Multiple use shelf for cooler

ABSTRACT

A shelf and a cooler are constructed so that the shelf can be supported in vertical or horizontal positions within the cooler, in a horizontal position on one of the handle assemblies of the cooler, or on top of the lid of the cooler.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY

This invention relates to coolers, and, more particularly, to a coolerand a shelf which can be supported by the cooler in multiple positions.

Coolers are commonly used by picnickers and campers for maintaining foodand beverages cold. The invention increases the versatility of a coolerby permitting a shelf to be supported by the cooler in a number ofdifferent positions. The shelf can be supported:

(a) in a vertical position within the cooler to act as a partition formaintaining food or ice in one part of the cooler;

(b) in a horizontal position within the cooler to support food above thebottom of the cooler;

(c) in a horizontal position on one of the handle assemblies of thecooler;

(d) on the top of the lid of the cooler to act as a cutting board; and

(e) in a vertical position near either inside wall where minimum spaceis used when storing the shelf.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The invention will be explained in conjunction with an illustrativeembodiment shown in the accompanying drawing, in which--

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a cooler and a shelf formedin accordance with the invention, the shelf being supported in avertical position within the cooler;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the shelf supported ina horizontal position within the cooler;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the cooler;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view, partially broken away, taken along the line4--4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view, partially broken away, taken along the line5--5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the shelf supported byone of the handle assemblies of the cooler;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of the shelf and handleassembly from a different angle;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the shelf supported ontop of the lid of the cooler;

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the shelf;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of the shelf taken along the line 10--10 ofFIG. 9; and

FIG. 11 is an elevational view taken along the line 11--11 of FIG. 9.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENT

Referring first to FIGS. 1-5, the numeral 15 designates generally acooler having a chest or bottom portion 16 and a lid 17 which isattached to the chest by hinges 18. A strap 19 is connected to the chestand the lid and prevents the lid from opening beyond the position shownin FIGS. 1 and 2. The chest includes a bottom wall 20, parallel frontand back walls 21 and 22, and parallel end walls 23 and 24.

The chest 16 may be constructed in the conventional manner from an outershell or case 26 (FIGS. 4 and 5) and an inner liner 27. The case and theliner are secured around their upper edges, and the space between thecase and the liner is filled with insulating plastic foam 28. Both thecase and the liner may advantageously be molded from plastic.

The inside surfaces of the front and back walls of the cooler areprovided with a plurality of vertically extending grooves 30. Thegrooves in the front wall are aligned with the grooves in the back wall.The inside surface of each of the four walls of the cooler extendsoutwardly adjacent the top of the cooler to provide a shoulder or ledge31.

The inside surface of the cooler is provided by the liner 27, and thegrooves 30 and the shoulder 31 can be formed by injection molding theliner with the appropriate shape. The molded liner has a bottom surface32 (FIGS. 4 and 5) and upwardly extending generally flat front, back,and end surfaces 33, 34, 35, and 36. The flat surfaces extend outwardlyand upwardly to provide the shoulder 31, and the grooves 30 interruptthe flat front and back surfaces 33 and 34.

A handle assembly 38 is mounted on each of the end walls 23 and 24 ofthe cooler. The details of the handle assemblies are described in U.S.Pat. No. 4,095,711. Each handle assembly includes a pair of mountingbrackets 39 which are mounted at horizontally spaced locations on theend wall of the case 26. A square handle 40 is pivotally and slidablymounted between the mounting brackets by mounting pins 41 which extendthrough the mounting brackets. Each pin is positioned within a groove 42in the side of the handle.

A shelf 45 is supportable within and on the cooler in a variety ofpositions. Referring to FIGS. 9-11, the shelf includes a generally flatand generally rectangular panel 46, a downwardly extending ledge 47which extends perpendicularly to the panel 46, and an upwardly extendingshoulder 48 which also extends perpendicularly to the panel 46. Thepanel 46 includes a pair of parallel side edges 49, a perpendicular endedge 50, and a downwardly extending tongue 57 at each end. The centralportion 51 of the panel is recessed below the outer edges of the panel(see FIG. 10). A perimetric groove 52 is recessed further into the paneladjacent the outer edges. A plurality of angularly extending slots oropenings 53 extend through the panel adjacent the end edge 50. A pair ofslots 54 are provided in the ledge 47, and the portions of the ledgeoutwardly of the slots are reinforced by ribs 55.

The width dimension of the shelf 45 between the side edges 49 is suchthat the side edges can be inserted into and retained by the grooves 30in the front and back walls of the cooler as shown in FIG. 1. The shelfis thereby held in a vertical position and acts as a partition to form acompartment between the shelf and the adjacent end wall. The compartmentcan be used for storing and separating ice, food, or beverages from theremainder of the cooler. When ice is held back by the shelf, articlescan be removed from and returned to the other part of the cooler withoutinterference from the ice. Although the ice is retained by the shelf,cold water is allowed to flow through the shelf by the openings 53. Thegrooves 30 in the front and back walls of the cooler are aligned inpairs, and the shelf can be inserted into any desired pair of grooves toform a compartment of the desired size.

The dimension of the shelf between the side edges 49 is also such thatthe side edges can be supported in a horizontal position by the shoulder31 on the front and back walls as shown in FIG. 2. The tongues 57restrain the tray from horizontal movement by engaging a pair ofopposing grooves 30 on the front and back walls. In this position theshelf serves as a tray for supporting food above the bottom of thecooler and maintaining the food dry. The ledge 47 retains the food onthe shelf.

The shelf can be supported by either of the handle assemblies for use asa utility shelf as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The slots 54 in the ledge 47of the shelf are spaced apart the same distance as the mounting brackets39 of the handle assembly. The slots 54 are inserted over the mountingbrackets 39, and the portion of the ledge 47 between the slots isinserted into the space between the handle 40 and the end wall of thecooler. The shelf is thereby supported in cantilever fashion by themounting brackets and the handle without requiring any special hardware.The shelf can be removed simply by lifting the shelf away from themounting brackets and the handle.

The shelf can serve as a cutting board by supporting the shelf on thetop of the lid 17 when the lid is closed as shown in FIG. 8. The flatpanel 46 of the shelf is supported by the lid, and the ledge 47 extendsdownwardly over the front edge of the lid to prevent the shelf frommoving toward the back.

The shelf 45 is advantageously integrally injection molded frominexpensive plastic, such as polypropylene. The plastic can be foamed toprovide the desired thin wall sections, and the balance of the shelf canbe thicker to provide added rigidity and enhanced appearance.

While in the foregoing specification a detailed description of aspecific embodiment of the invention was set forth for the purpose ofillustration, it will be understood that many of the details hereingiven may be varied considerably by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:
 1. In combination:a cooler having a horizontally extendingbottom wall, parallel front and back walls extending upwardly from thebottom wall, and parallel end walls extending between the front and backwalls, each of the front and back walls having an inside surface whichis provided with vertically extending retaining means for holding ashelf in a vertical position and horizontally extending supporting meansfor holding a shelf in a horizontal position, and a pair of handleassemblies mounted on a pair of walls of the cooler, each of the handleassemblies including a pair of mounting brackets which are spaced apartin a horizontal direction and a handle which is positioned between themounting brackets and is supported thereby, and a generally flat,generally rectangular shelf .Iadd.having .Iaddend.a pair of parallelside edges, the side edges being engageable with the retaining means onthe front and back walls of the cooler when the shelf is retained in agenerally vertical position.Iadd., .Iaddend.the side edges beingengageable with the supporting means on the front and back walls of thecooler when the shelf is supported in a generally horizontal position,the shelf including a ledge which extends generally perpendicularly fromone side thereof, the ledge having a pair of recesses which are spacedapart the same distance as the mounting brackets of the handleassemblies whereby the shelf can be supported in a generally horizontalposition by inserting the recesses of the ledge over the mountingbrackets of one of the handle assemblies.
 2. The structure of claim 1 inwhich the cooler includes a lid hingedly connected to one of the wallsthereof, the generally flat portion of the shelf being engageable withthe lid to provide a cutting board and the ledge being engageable withthe side of the lid to prevent the shelf from sliding in at least onedirection with respect to the lid.
 3. The structure of claim 1 in whicheach of the inside surfaces of the front and back walls of the cooler isprovided with an outwardly extending groove which provides saidretaining means, the side edges of the shelf being insertable into thegrooves in the front and back walls.
 4. The structure of claim 1 inwhich each of the inside surfaces of the front and back walls of thecooler is provided with a horizontally extending ledge which providessaid horizontally extending supporting means.
 5. The structure of claim1 in which each of the inside surfaces of the front and back walls ofthe cooler includes a generally flat vertically extending portion whichextends upwardly from the bottom wall and an outwardly extendingshoulder portion adjacent the upper end of the front or back wall, theshoulder portions of the front and back walls providing said supportingmeans, each of the flat vertically extending portions of the insidesurfaces of the front and back walls being provided with a plurality ofvertically extending grooves which provide said retaining means, theside edges of the shelf being insertable into the grooves in the frontand back walls.
 6. The structure of claim 1 in which the ledge includesa downwardly extending portion engageable with one of the verticallyextending retaining means when the shelf is in the horizontal positionwhereby the shelf is restrained from horizontal motion.
 7. Incombination:a cooler having a horizontally extending bottom wall,parallel front and back walls extending upwardly from the bottom wall,and parallel end walls extending oetween the front and back walls, eachof the front and back walls having an inside surface which is providedwith vertically extending retaining means for holding a shelf in avertical position and horizontally extending supporting means forholding a shelf in a horizontal position, and a generally flat shelfhaving a pair of side edges, the side edges being engageable with theretaining means on the front and back walls of the cooler when the shelfis retained in a generally vertical position, the side edges beingengageable with the supporting means on the front and back walls of thecooler when the shelf is supported in a generally horizontal position,the shelf including at least one tongue which extends generallyperpendicularly to the generally flat surface of the shelf so as toengage one of the vertically extending retaining means whereby the shelfis restrained from horizontal movement when in the horizontal position..Iadd.
 8. In combination:a cooler having a horizontally extending bottomwall, parallel front and back walls extending upwardly from the bottomwall, and parallel end walls extending between the front and back walls,each of the front and back walls having an inside surface which isprovided with vertically extending retaining means for holding a shelfin a vertical position and horizontally extending supporting means forholding a shelf in a horizontal position, and a pair of handleassemblies mounted on a pair of walls of the cooler, each of the handleassemblies including a pair of mounting brackets which are spaced apartin a horizontal direction and a handle which is positioned between themounting brackets and is supported thereby, and a generally rectangularshelf having two pairs of parallel side edges, two of the side edgesbeing engageable with the retaining means on the front and back walls ofthe cooler when the shelf is retained in a generally vertical position,the side edges being engageable with the supporting means on the frontand back walls of the cooler when the shelf is supported in a generallyhorizontal position, the shelf including a ledge which extends from oneside thereof and which is insertable between one of the handles and theassociated walls of the cooler whereby the shelf can be supported in agenerally horizontal position on the outside of the cooler..Iaddend.